Before indoor plumbing--A Table for Mom
From the archives of Paul Corbin
It was back in 1926, but I can still remember the disgust in my mother's voice, as she said, "I wish we had a table to set the wash pan on!" As I reflect back on the situation, as it existed at the time, I can understand why she would make this statement.
There were eight in our family at this time, all living in a four-room house with no electricity, no refrigeration, and no indoor plumbing. Our supply of water for the kitchen was three enamel buckets, which were filled from the pitcher pump in the back yard and carried into the kitchen. These buckets were lined up on a crude, shelf-like table attached to the wall. The wash pan sat at the end of the table.
My father was sympathetic of Mom's wish for a table, but his alibi for not building one was that he did not have any suitable material. In this respect, he was right, as the local saw mills only produced one-by wides, two by fours, rip-rap, and cross ties, and it would be a difficult task to build a table out of that kind of material.
So, it took a tragedy for Mom to get the table she wanted.
This disastrous event was in the form of a fire in 1926, which destroyed the Stepp School building, which was just across Cato Slough from where we lived. This event put everything in high gear, as a new school building had to be ready for school opening in September. The first thing to be erected was a large coal shed, which was first used to store lumber for the new school.
I was 12 years old at the time, and I remember seeing the beautifully-planed lumber as it arrived, realizing that some of this lumber would sure make Mom the table she needed. I didn't dare touch a piece of this lumber; however, when construction started, I was there to pick up any scrap lumber, as it hit the scrap pile.
Even with this new source of material, I found that there was nothing I could use for making table legs, so I started scouring the slough bank for small round poles. I came up with two birch and two willow poles just the right size. I found a piece of saw mill lumber one inch thick and eighteen inches wide. I cut off a twenty inch slab of this lumber and attached it to the willow and birch legs. Then I covered this slab with beautiful tongue-and-groove flooring--and I had my table.
Yes, I had my table, but it didn't look very fancy, so I split some of the small birch and willow poles and made a shelf twelve inches below the top. I interlaced a coil of small branches in and out around the legs, just below the top and flattened one side of smooth branches, which I used as a molding, completely around the tabletop.
Now Mom had her table, and I don't believe she could have been any prouder if it had been made of mahogany with a marble top.
Today this table commands a prominent place in my home, keeping alive the memories of bygone years, but after 85 years of service, this table is posing somewhat of a problem.
You see, I have 13 heirs, most of whom have expressed some desire of becoming the recipient of this parcel of poles that was put together by a 12-year-old boy.
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